Читать книгу Come-Hither Honeycomb - Erin Belieu - Страница 8

Instructions for the Hostage

You must accept the door is never shut.

You’re always free to leave at any time,

though the hostage will remain, no matter what.

The damage could be managed, so you thought.

Essential to the theory of your crime:

you must accept the door is never shut.

Soon, you’ll need to choose which parts to cut

for proof of life, then settle on your spine—

though the hostage will remain, no matter what.

Buried with a straw, it’s the weak who start

considering their price. You’re no great sum.

You must accept the door was never shut

and make a half-life there, aware, apart,

afraid your captor’s lost you, so far down,

though the hostage you’ll remain, no matter what.

Blink once for yes, and twice for yes—the heart

makes a signal for the willing, its purity sublime.

You must accept the door is never shut,

though the hostage will remain, no matter what.